• Skip to main content

    Market Segment

    September 29, 2023

    GrafTech CEO To Step Down

    Written by Laura Miller

    Electrode producer GrafTech International announced on Thursday, Sept. 28 that its president and CEO would be stepping down.

    Marcel Kessler will depart as leader of the Brooklyn Heights, Ohio-based company effective Nov. 15 due to family reasons, the company said in a statement.

    Kessler will officially resign as an employee of GrafTech effective Dec. 31 but will continue to serve on the company’s Board of Directors.

    Effective Nov. 15, Timothy K. Flanagan, the company’s current CFO and treasurer, will step up to serve as interim CEO.

    Current VP and corporate controller Catherine Hedoux-Delgado will take over as interim CFO and treasurer, the company said.

    Laura Miller

    Laura Miller is a reporter and editor for Steel Market Update. She has held various editorial positions with steel industry publications, associations, and mills since 2007. She joined the SMU team in 2022. She is a member of the Association of Women in the Metal Industries and a past-president of the AWMI Pittsburgh Chapter. She holds a BA in Latin American Studies from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania.

    Read more from Laura Miller

    Latest in Market Segment

    Price on Trade: USMCA hearing highlights shortcomings of trade pact

    In our opinion, it is striking that for all the bold talk about establishing a "common external tariff" — or "Fortress North America" — the solutions being proposed fail to live up to their promises. As we have commented recently, USMCA certainly needs a rethink. But we have serious concerns about Canadian and Mexican proposals that suggest common trade policies that are, as we see it, more illusory than effective.